Union Minister of State for social justice, Ramdas Athawale on Saturday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking reservation for the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the Indian Army.

The BJP-led central government rejected the charge that it was trying to end reservation for SCs and STs, as the Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2017, that seeks to modify the list of Scheduled Castes in Odisha.

The Scheduled Castes Welfare Committee of Gujarat Assembly today suggested that the state Government should build separate crematoriums for Dalits in those villages where the community is still facing problems.

In a major development, the Bihar Cabinet on Tuesday announced 50 per cent reservation for members of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, other backward classes and minorities in the judicial services in the state.

Poll-bound Uttar Pradesh has reported the highest number of cases of atrocities against the Scheduled Castes (SC) in 2015 while the highest number of such cases against the Scheduled Tribes (ST) during the year were found in Rajasthan, according to Union Minister Ramdas Athawale.

A bill to include certain castes, including Sais, Aheria and Peruvannan, in the list of Scheduled Castes (SC) in states of Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal approved by Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribe commission chairman PL Punia on Sunday dismissed the recent claims made by Union Minister Sushma Swaraj and said that PhD scholar Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide in Hyderabad in January this year, was a Dalit.

Central and state government employees may face disciplinary action for defaulting in timely verification of caste certificates issued to SC or ST category people, as per the new guidelines being finalised by the Centre.

CPI(M) on Thursday demanded that the Centre should enact a law to provide reservation to SC and ST communities in the private sector, stressing it would be best way to observe the anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution.

Authorised persons like district and sub-divisional magistrates should issue caste certificates to people belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBC), the Centre said on Thursday.